Poland will compete at the EuroHockey Championships for the first time since 2017 following their stunning run in last summer’s qualifiers in Dublin.
There, they defeated three higher ranked opponents at the time, defeating Italy and Ireland via shoot-outs before outdoing Wales in the final. It continued a super year for the country in which they also won EuroHockey indoor silver.
In 2023, the side was playing in the third tier in Europe in Skierniewice, showing the huge rise they have made in the past few years.
Given that context, the world number 25 side are going to be underdogs in Mönchengladbach but there is plenty of positivity around the sport in Poland of late to give them confidence of making their mark.
It is a side which is gaining more and more contracts around Europe. The side it captained by Jacek Kurowski who is well-known to German audiences having played for the past three seasons with TSV Mannheim, excelling with his game vision and creativity. He will play with EHL champions Gantoise next season.
Drag-flicker Maksymilian Koperski played for Oranje-Rood in the Hoofdklasse last term and will switch to KHC Leuven; he previously played in Germany with both Harvestehuder THC and Grossflotbeker THGC.
Eryk Bembenek top-scored at the EuroHockey Championhip III event as well as the EuroHockey5s Championship in 2024 while Mateusz Nowakowski was player of the tournament at that event.
Jakub Janicki made his debut in 2013 against Wales and is a natural full-back who has been a key pillar of the Polish defence. His club career spans Poland, England, and Germany, but he first learned the game in Gąsawa, a town well known for its outstanding hockey academy.
Mateusz Popiolkowski has been a mainstay of the panel in goals for the past decade and has picked up a number of recent accolades, notably as best goalkeeper of the qualifiers last year and both the MVP of the indoor and outdoor Hockey Superliga finals.
Robert Pawlak is another to watch. He is currently with RS Tenis after two years in the Belgian league while he was player of the tournament and top scorer at the EuroHockey Under-21 indoor championship in 2023. He also scored the vital shoot-out indoors in Leuven last year to secure a final spot.
So far this year, they took bronze at the FIH Nations Cup 2, beating Chile and USA as well as drawing with China and Egypt, all of whom are ranked higher than them. They picked up a couple of wins over Czechia before losing twice to Ireland in final preparation for the tournament.
| # | Name | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1 | Mateusz Popiołkowski | 67 | 0 | WKS Grunwald Poznań |
| 2 | Mikołaj Głowacki | 47 | 4 | WKS Grunwald Poznań |
| 3 | Jakub Bieńkowski | 3 | 0 | AZS Poznań University of Technology |
| 4 | Tomasz Bembenek | 45 | 4 | DTV Hannover (GER) |
| 5 | Karol Gumny | 8 | 0 | AZS Poznań University of Technology |
| 7 | Gracjan Jarzyński | 45 | 19 | Harvestehuder THC (GER) |
| 8 | Mikołaj Gumny | 102 | 31 | KS Warta Poznań |
| 9 | Jacek Kurowski | 80 | 13 | Gantoise (BEL) |
| 10 | Maksymilian Koperski | 51 | 9 | KHC Leuven (BEL) |
| 11 | Damian Jarzembowski | 26 | 9 | WKS Grunwald Poznań |
| 12 | Maciej Pacanowski | 3 | 0 | Stella Gniezno |
| 14 | Robert Pawlak | 40 | 8 | RS Tenis (ESP) |
| 16 | Jakub Janicki | 86 | 4 | LKS Gąsawa |
| 17 | Patryk Pawlak | 62 | 14 | AZS AWF Poznań |
| 20 | Aleks Marcinkowski | 7 | 0 | AZS AWF Poznań |
| 21 | Jakub Chumeńczuk | 32 | 0 | Klipper THC (GER) |
| 22 | Wojciech Rutkowski | 3 | 0 | HK Pomorzanin Toruń |
| 23 | Eryk Bembenek | 40 | 14 | DTV Hannover (GER) |
| 24 | Mateusz Nowakowski | 51 | 4 | DTV Hannover (GER) |
| 27 | Michal Lange | 40 | 3 | WKS Grunwald Poznań |
| 28 | Jakub Hołosyniuk | 28 | 2 | AZS Poznań University of Technology |
| Head Coach | Dariusz Rachwalski | |||
| Assistant Coach | Patryk Karamuz | |||
| Physiotherapist | Oliwia Małkiewicz | |||
| Video Technician | Tomasz Kawa | |||
| Team Menager | Robert Grzeszczak | |||
